


A Worthy Sacrifice

by lemonlush



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gods & Goddesses, Anal Sex, Cock Rings, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Romance, Smut, Threesome - F/M/M, You've been warned, he's her sex slave i've learned to accept it, this is going to be filthy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-08
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:22:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23549113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lemonlush/pseuds/lemonlush
Summary: “They call me the ‘Goddess of Death’...but you may call me ‘Mistress’.”
Relationships: Higurashi Kagome/InuYasha
Comments: 96
Kudos: 174





	1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from the Inuyasha universe. The rest is mine.

* * *

The sutras searing his skin were humiliating. Immobilizing. Completely fucking necessary. He'd shred every single one of them if he could. They had taken him at sunrise, just after he had placed a kiss on his mother's cheek and resigned himself to meet his fate. He shouldn't have been surprised that they had come out in throngs to watch him go and that they would be waiting for him as soon as he opened the door.

Their hands plastered the sutras to him, and they carried him off into the forest to meet his destiny.

He had been picked this time. He had been elected to be their sacrifice. Normally, they would have had a murderer to use or an elder would have volunteered...but it was his fucking luck that everyone was on their best fucking behavior. No one had volunteered, so they drew together a lottery.

He sincerely doubted that there were more names than his in the bag. They had wanted to be rid of him for years, afterall.

Hell, if it hadn't been for his mother, he probably _would_ have left years ago. But...she was old. She needed him, and he wouldn't allow her to sacrifice herself for his sake. He wasn't worth it. He didn't care what she whispered into his pointed, furry ears every night since childhood. He was a mistake who should have had his throat slit at birth.

At least now, his life would matter.

Now he could save his mother.

If he didn't do this, he knew they would take her instead. He just worried about what they would do to 'the demon's whore' now that he was gone and unable to protect her as he always had.

They slammed his back against the stone pillar, and their dirty, grimy hands tugged at his clothes as he struggled against them. They stripped him bare, shackling his hands above his head and plastering more sutras to his exposed skin...arms, legs, chest, mouth...and they left him wearing nothing but the holy papers and the shackles, abandoning him as nude as the day he was born. The crowd didn't leave without touching him, though. They spat on him and especially mocked the part of him that rested between his legs. He did his best to ignore them.

It would all be over soon enough.

No one stayed as the sacrificed waited for the Bringer Of Death.

When they left him, he felt dirty and cold...and he could do nothing but stand at attention and wait. He didn't know when it would happen. He could spend all day here, or only minutes. It didn't matter. In the end, the same fate awaited him as everyone else who had come before.

They had been making these tributes for centuries. Once every twelve moons, someone would be left here to await their fate...and for many, it was their chance to atone for their crimes before meeting their Maker. At the very least, they'd meet the God of Death. He claimed one life for himself in exchange for sparing their land. To many, it was an easy and worthwhile transaction.

To others...it was an end. He did not know if it was a quick or slow one, but it was an end nonetheless.

He had never heard the same tale twice. In some of the stories, the ground would shake, the leaves would tremble, and a wild, bulky, hybrid of a boar and a man would emerge from the woods and run through the sacrifice with his tusks. Sometimes, it was a throng of snakes that would slither out from the tree branches and strangle the sacrifice. Other times, birds would descend upon them and peck out their eyes.

It was all bullshit.

No one had ever seen the God with their own eyes...otherwise, they'd be dead too.

He stood there all day, his stomach growling despite himself. His arms had become numb long ago, and his shoulders and wrists ached as the sun beat down on his naked body. Sweat beaded and ran down his back, and insects tickled his skin as they crawled over his exposed flesh. Once, a butterfly landed on his pectoral to drink the salty water from his chest. He would have smiled if he could...but his bindings made even that impossible.

As the sun started to lower but not yet set, he began to worry.

What if he was an insufficient offering because of his heritage? What if he had been rejected? What would that mean? Would the God come to smite them all? What of his mother? He pinched his eyes shut as despair washed through him.

He didn't give a shit about the other fuckers. They were the ones who had strung him up here. But his poor mother...probably wailing on her futon as he waited to die...he didn't want the God to hurt her. He raised his eyes to the heavens, silently begging them to send the God so he could fulfill his fucking purpose and save his mother.

It was twilight when the fog settled in around him...and that was the first sign that he was at last no longer alone. He watched it swirl around the trunks of the trees and the foliage of the forest he stood in, almost as if it were alive. Then, he saw a figure in the distance. It was no more than a shadow at first, but his keen, citrine eyes could see the movement. His white, pointed dog ears could hear the faint, delicate chime of bells as the figure drew nearer. Then, he could make out the glints of gold glimmering off of a headdress and chest piece.

His breath left his body as the figure finally appeared in the clearing. This God was no God...this God was a _Goddess_...and perfectly female in every way. She stalked towards him with a predatory gait, her movements fluid and her hips swaying with each step. Bells on her feet and arms jingled almost airily as she drew closer.

She wore an ornate headdress with radiating sharp spines, haloing her head like the sun and hiding her black hair. A matching collar rested upon her shoulders above her chest. A skirt of sashes and fringe beads swayed with her every step, and a shirt of golden, tightly knit chainmail covered her breasts. The expanse of her taut stomach was bared to him, but he dared not let his gaze stay there, lest he anger her. Bangles adorned her wrists and ceremonial ring cuffs encompassed the tips of each of her fingers, coming together in long pointed tips that were like claws.

She was exquisite. This was easily the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on...and also the most deadly. He wanted to fall at her feet and worship her...fulfil her every whim and desire...and run away from her all at the same time.

She stopped before him, stormy grey eyes raking up and down his body. He wished that the fuckers had at least left him with a fundoshi. He could feel his cheeks heating under her critical eye. She was examining him closer than even he had ever examined himself. Was she deciding if he would suffice?

He felt her hands land on his legs and she slowly drew them upwards, her finger cuffs dragging over his thighs and up his sides and sending tingles of electricity running through his body and toward his groin. He wanted to close his eyes and look away from her beauty, but if she was going to kill him, he was determined to face that fate head on.

She tilted her head to the side in thought, watching him as he looked back at her in defiance. She was fascinated. Over the centuries, she had seen many men and women abandoned here and left to her as a sacrifice.

However, she had never seen a man quite like him before. He didn't look human. The first thing she had noticed about him was his starlight hair - it was such a unique color on such a young, spry body. A delectable body. One that was coated in sutras.

How abnormal.

That's when she noticed his dog ears.

How intriguing...they didn't leave her a human this time. But perhaps the most intriguing thing about him beyond the physical appearance was the look in his eyes. Most looked upon her with pleading eyes...eyes filled with regret...terror...

His golden orbs spoke of defiance. Pride. He had fire in him.

The corner of her lip quirked upwards as her fingers splayed across his abdomen, his skin jumping at the contact. He trembled under her touch as she continued to move her hands upwards, her finger cuffs leaving red welts in their wake. They stopped on his shoulders as she stared him in the eyes - their gaze never once breaking since she had touched him.

She was in no rush.

She did not need this sacrifice just yet.

She could afford to indulge herself for a bit.

"You are different," she purred huskily, and she watched his eyes dilate. "Tell me why," she demanded, her fingers coming to rest against the sutra across his mouth and disintegrating it.

He tilted his head back, moving his jaw in circles before rolling it back down to address her. His lips tingled and his mouth felt dry.

"You don't normally receive half demons as offerings?" he croaked, lips quirked upwards. She silently delighted in his humor.

Oh yes.

He was quite intriguing indeed.

"Am I...inadequate?" he asked almost nervously, licking his lips as her hands trailed down his chest again. She watched the muscles of his chest clench under her touch, and a smile kissed her lips. She held power over him, and it was a different kind of power than those bestowed upon her at birth. It was a more ancient power.

The power a woman held over a man.

"You do not wish to be?"

"I only wish to spare my mother. I don't care what you do to the rest of them," he replied honestly, and she quirked a brow.

"You hold no love for your people?"

"My people hold no love for me," he explained simply, looking into her stormy grey eyes. When she did not say more, he found himself swallowing and supplementing his previous statement. "They despise what I am. I was selected from the lottery, but I suspect that it had been rigged. No elder offered themself up. No crimes occurred. They picked me for you...because my crime is my heritage. My blood is dirty, and they don't want me sullying their city with my presence anymore."

"This is your only crime?"

"It's enough," he smiled weakly. "When you are hated for what you are, you need to commit no other crime than to exist. If you hate someone as much as they hate me...I think only my mother will weep over my death," he whispered, swallowing thickly.

Her eyes flashed silver in anger and she placed her fingers on each of his sutras, disintegrating them to dust. He gasped as the searing pain his body had felt all day finally, blissfully ended.

"Thank you..." he whispered as her hands came up to his shackled ones above his head. "Does this mean I'm worthy? You'll accept me?"

He watched her lips press into a thin line as her silver eyes slowly ran down his body, staying on each red welt left behind by the sutras before flitting back up to meet his golden ones.

"Do you wish to die?"

"Does anyone?"

Her lips quirked back up into a smile, her eyes softening back into their stormy grey as she seemed to ponder something. Finally, she seemed to reach a conclusion, his shackles disappearing with a dismissive wave of her fingers. He unceremoniously dropped to his knees, unprepared for the abrupt freedom she had allowed him.

Inuyasha looked back up at her, confusion marring his features as she dropped into a crouch and took his face between her fingers.

"What does your mother call you?"

"Inuyasha," he breathed, rubbing his wrists nervously. He was still uncertain as to what was happening to him.

"Inuyasha," she repeated, rolling it around in her mouth and letting her tongue try the syllables of his name. It had never sounded sweeter than when it poured from her full lips. It was the most melodic sound in the world to him, and he felt completely bewitched as she tried it once more.

"They call me the 'Goddess of Death'...but you may call me 'Mistress'."

"M-Mistress?" he stuttered, his eyes widening.

"Yes, Inuyasha. You intrigue me, and I do not wish to take your life yet. You will be my servant for the next six months. You shall meet my every need...fulfill my every wish. In exchange, you will live in my temple, sleep in my bed, and dine at my table."

"W-what happens at the end of six months?"

She shot him a knowing look, and he lowered his gaze.

Of course.

It was a temporary stay of execution.

Still, it was better than dying now.

"Do you agree to this, Inuyasha?" she asked him quite seriously, surprising him.

She was a goddess. She could demand anything of him, and he would have no say. This kindness was unexpected, and yet...delightful.

"Yes, Mistress."

* * *

A/N: New fic. I know. I'm horrible. Not sure when the next chapter will go up – I kinda wanted to get this done in time for the first night of Passover so…here we are!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from the Inuyasha universe. The rest is mine.

* * *

Inuyasha slumped down into the steaming pool of water, allowing its warmth to surround his aching body and soothe his muscles. His whole body was sore from standing on his feet all day with his arms chained above his head to the pillar as he waited for her arrival. He never could have imagined that the Bringer of Death was...well...he had certainly never anticipated this day taking the many unexpected turns it had.

Not that he was ungrateful.

Oh, no...quite the opposite.

Though he had no idea how Mistress intended for him to serve her, it certainly had to be better than death. Besides...it appeared as if his duties would start tomorrow. Mistress had simply brought him back to her temple in the mountains on the edge of a cliff and sat with him as he ate. She kept him company, making small conversation with him and watching him.

This was all as he sat before her...still completely bare.

He had felt nervous under her gaze. He had always heard how disgusting he was...and it was hard to look at her as he ate. He was afraid that he might catch a look of disgust on her face. Still, he had stolen glances at her under the fringe of his bangs, too captivated by her beauty to resist. Mistress' expression had been...indiscernible. She didn't seem repulsed by him, of that he was certain. He had seen the look of repulsion too many times before to know that she wasn't, and he did feel minutely relieved by this.

She seemed almost... _concerned_. He had thought he'd caught her staring at the welts on his body more than once, particularly around his thighs...but he was sure he was mistaken. He had reassured her during the meal that they would be gone by the next day, especially now that he had a little food in his system. Time and rest would do wonders for his body.

She simply arched a perfectly shaped brow and smirked, sipping more plum wine from her cup across from him.

"Would you enjoy a bath, Inuyasha?" she had asked when he had eaten his fill. His chopsticks had been laying untouched for quite some time by then, and his hands were resting in his lap in an attempt to seem proper while also hiding his genitals with some difficulty. "You were out in the sun for quite a while today. Perhaps it will help you relax and feel more at home?"

"Yes, Mistress. I would...thank you," he had smiled almost coyly. He watched her elegantly rise from the table and he clumsily followed after her, allowing her to lead him to the bathing pool. The gilded doors opened with a soundless glide, and Mistress beckoned him forward as she entered. With an effortless wave of her hand, the sconces and hanging lanterns around them lit. The soft flicker of fire danced across the stone walls as she drew him further inside...or perhaps _outside_ was the better term...

The pearl lined bathing pool was protected by a shingled roof propped up on large, granite pillars with elephants and flowers carved into its surface. The floor had been intricately tiled with large, flat stones to create a sprawling, golden design across the floor. It was a stark contrast to the dark grey of the natural stone, and had to have been painstakingly created. Four long stone slabs came together to create the lip for the rectangular pool of water, the outermost edge looking as if it were dangling off the edge of the mountain cliff they were on. Beyond that, you could see the canopy of the foliage below - a rolling wave of greenery interrupted only by the occasional roaring river or gushing waterfall. Along the far edge of the three-sided room sat a bench with brushes and soft, fragrant soaps. A wooden spout continuously poured a steady stream of water from the wall, allowing for easier rinsing.

He eyed the supplies, his skin suddenly feeling that much grimier.

"Go on," she encouraged softly. "I will return later after you have had some time to yourself."

She disappeared before he could turn around to thank her. Inuyasha made quick work of washing his body before rinsing off and slipping into the warmth of the pool he sat in now.

He swam over to the edge, looking over the side into the darkness. If it had been daylight, it would have been easier to see the foliage below. As it was, he simply enjoyed the cool mountain breeze kissing his heated skin as he lay his head on crossed arms.

Mistress was an enigma. A beautiful one...but an enigma, nonetheless. He had learned very little during his dinner with her. She had never eaten, but he thought it was rude to ask her why she was refraining. He didn't want to offend her or make her think he was uncouth and nothing more than a wild animal.

Strange.

That was the second time in his life that he had cared about what a person thought of him.

But she was no ordinary person…

He sighed as the image of her floated past his mind's eye again. Full lips...fuller breasts...wide hips...tapered waist...he wondered what her skin tasted like…what other parts of her tasted like...

No sooner had the thought entered his mind than he pushed away from the pearl wall, abhorred at the direction in which his mind had wandered. She had shown him kindness, released him from his bindings...had granted him an extended lease on his life...and this was how he repaid her? _By lusting after her?_ By wanting to...to…

He slapped the water in anger before running his fingers through his bangs and biting his lip as he looked up at the roof.

She was a _Goddess_! His Mistress. He was worthless. He had no right!

"My...and here I thought a bath would help relax you," a sultry voice echoed behind him, and he whirled around to face her.

"Mistress," he breathed, his eyes widening before lowering as he turned away from her again. It was too late, however. The image of her had been seared into his brain. Gone was her headdress and collar and chainmail...gone were the bindings keeping her hair pulled back and tied to her head, preventing it from swirling freely around her as if she were in water...

She wore none of that now. No skirts or bangles or finger cuffs. She wore only a simple, sheer, white robe with gold thread creating intricate designs that he hadn't been paying any attention to...not when he could see the curve of her breast...the color of her nipples...the shape of her sex…

"You are endearingly shy," she laughed lightly. The melodic sound felt alluring and he clenched his hands at his sides, trying to dislodge the perfect image of her from his mind. His ears swiveled back towards her as he heard movement. It was the slide of fabric as she undid her belt...and then the fall as she let it slip from her shoulders and pool around her feet. He could only imagine the picture she made, his back stiff as he refused to turn around and look at her.

"Have you never seen a woman's body before?"

He could only shake his head as a suffocating silence filled the room.

"Really?"

He nodded his head, swallowing thickly as he struggled to find his voice. When he did, it cracked sharply and only added to his embarrassment. "Women were not too keen to have me near them."

"Then that means you are...inexperienced?"

He bit his lip and clenched his hands so tightly that his claws were on the verge of breaking the skin on his palms.

"Good."

He gasped, her response hardly one he had been expecting. He was then startled further when he heard the sound of water being displaced as she stepped into the pool.

"Mistress?" he breathed in question, turning around to face her only as a reflex before silently swearing under his breath and moving to look away from her again.

He felt the sway of water as she approached him, jumping lightly when he felt her hands on his shoulders. She guided him to turn around, and he shut his eyes despite the demon within him snarling to keep them open. He could feel him simmering beneath the surface of his skin, demanding he reach out and touch her...kiss her...ravage every inch of her naked body...

Mistress laughed mirthfully, her hands coming up to cup his face. "Your innocence is sweet, Inuyasha. Endearing. But it has no place here. Open your eyes and look at me."

His heart was pounding so hard in his chest that he could feel it in his throat. He couldn't disobey her, and his demon was purring in his ear to listen to Mistress. This was what she wanted, afterall. He took a steadying breath and opened his eyes, fixating them on her forehead and refusing to move them lower.

"Oh, Inuyasha...these next six months will become very frustrating for us both if you do not overcome this shyness of yours," she lightly chastised, reaching out and taking his hand. He felt her raise it, and then something soft and smooth was in his palm. Her fingers gently cupped his cheek, encouraging him to tilt his head down.

She had placed his hand over her left breast, and he swallowed hard at the sight. The tan, rough skin of his hand was such a contrast to the beautiful, pale, soft skin of her breast. It fit perfectly within his hand...her nipples a dusty pink color that called to him. He wanted to touch her more. Taste her skin...pull it between his lips and swirl his tongue over it and across it and around it...he wanted to nip it.

He felt his cheeks flush at the thoughts running through his mind, his blood heating and rushing to a part of his body that had been on display for the world to see all day today. A part of him that had been mocked and ridiculed that very day...because he was a half demon. He had been told all his life that he was unworthy of compassion and friendship, let alone intimacy or love.

This wasn't right.

He shouldn't be doing this.

He was filthy, wasn't he? She was a _Goddess_. He shouldn't be touching her. She didn't grasp what she was doing. This was a mistake...no matter how much he wanted to be doing this.

Inuyasha began to pull away from her, closing his eyes to give her privacy...but he felt her other hand come up to keep his hand on her breast.

"You're pulling away from me? Explain yourself. Do you find me unappealing, Inuyasha?"

"No!" he choked out, his eyes wide and disbelieving. "No, of course not! You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen!"

"Then why do you pull away from me?"

"I...I shouldn't be...I...I am impure. Touching you in this way isn't right…" he bemoaned, looking away from her.

He heard the sound of her tongue kissing her teeth in annoyance before he felt her hook a finger under his chin, forcing him to regard her once more.

"Who am I, Inuyasha?"

"You...you are Mistress?"

The corner of her lip quirked up into a wry smile at his response, and she tried again. Seducing a man had never been this difficult before…

"What am I, Inuyasha?"

"A Goddess," he breathed.

"Mmm...and doesn't that mean that I have the final say over who is pure and who is impure? I want you to touch me, Inuyasha. Do you wish to touch me?"

"Yes…"

"Did you not agree to fulfill my every wish? My every whim and desire? Obey me for the next six months and serve me? Did you not say that you would sleep in my bed?"

His eyes widened as a second meaning to her request flitted through his mind, and he found himself speechless. She had brought him here with the intention of...she wanted to... _with him?_ She wanted _him_ to bed her?

"I did," he croaked.

"Then touch me, Inuyasha."

He swallowed hard, his mouth suddenly dry. His thumb nervously twitched before slowly moving from its place to ghost over her nipple. It almost instantly pebbled under his touch, and he released a shaky breath at her physical reaction to his action.

"Good," she purred. "Do it again, Inuyasha."

He hesitantly obeyed, still uncertain that this was what she truly wanted before lightly sweeping his thumb back over her nipple.

"Do you know what to expect when you lay with a woman?" she asked huskily, and his cheeks heated.

"I...I know...very little," he mumbled, unable to look her in the eye.

"Have you touched yourself before?"

"Only a few times," he admitted, blushing harder under her careful scrutiny. "When it wouldn't go away. I ran into the forest so no one would know."

"So sweetly innocent…so perfect…"

His eyes shot up to her face, completely bewildered. Him? Perfect? How could she think that when he had always heard the contrary? Yet...her eyes held no lies or deceit within them. She still smelled as sweet and delicious as before...her scent holding no trace of a lie.

Her hand left his cheek, her fingers trailing a burning line down his jaw. They passed over his neck, ignoring the bob of his Adam's apple as he swallowed thickly. Her fingertips grazed his chest, dancing over his nipple and sending a shiver of delight running up his spine. His eyes fluttered shut for only a second before he opened them, forcing himself to watch and to enjoy every second of this sweet torture. Her touch continued southward, her fingers brushing over his abdomen and navel before slipping under the clear water and taking hold of him in her hand.

His body violently balked forward of its own volition, the feeling of her hand over his rapidly hardening erection better than he could have ever imagined.

"I will teach you what to expect, Inuyasha," she purred, her hand sliding up his length. "And I will teach you how to please me. It is good that you are untouched by another. Your innocence is a gift."

"I-it i-is?" he stuttered, gasping as her fingers brushed against the tip of his cock.

"It means you haven't been tainted with the knowledge of another woman's desires. You will know mine and only mine...will learn how to please me and only me…" her fingers ran back down his length, coming to caress his sack. It had softened from the warm water in the pool, but he could feel it tightening as she continued to touch him.

"M-Mistress!" he gasped as her fingers found a sensitive place behind them that he hadn't even known existed. His body jerked forward, and he gasped from the sensations running through him.

"This first time will be quick," she warned him. "Don't feel embarrassed from it," she soothed as his face became worried. "It is natural and will change in time. Once you have found your ecstasy, however...you will have more work to do."

"Y-yes, Mistress," he gasped, his eyes drifting shut again for a moment. Her touch was overwhelming. His blood was rapidly heating, and his heart was pounding in his ears.

She gently leaned into his hand, drawing his attention back to the breast he still held. "I enjoy your touch. Do you enjoy mine?"

"Y-yes," he nodded, rolling her nipple with his thumb. She rewarded him with a soft moan. It was the most beautiful sound he had ever heard. He would do anything to make it happen again.

She wordlessly took his other hand, raising it out of the water and lovingly placing it on her other breast. He watched the water from his hand coat her skin, making her soft tissue glisten in the fire's light. Her nipple shimmered as he ran his thumb across it, and his mouth felt completely dry. He wanted to taste her. He needed to kiss her...pull her lip between his...

Desperately.

"May I kiss you, Mistress?"

"Anywhere but my lips," she encouraged, watching a multitude of feelings sweep across his face. Delight, hurt, confusion, surprise, desire...

"Not there?"

"Not today. One day, Inuyasha...but not today."

She tightened her hand around his girth and gave him a firm tug, and all of his prying questions fled his mind. She felt so good...not just her hand around him, but the feel of her breasts in his hands. He leaned down to hesitantly press a kiss to her cheek, and when she didn't pull away or cry out in disgust, he moved them down to her jaw. He tenderly kissed her just under her ear, and she could hear him exhale hotly as he kissed her again. He grew bolder and his tongue darted out to taste her skin, pulling a moan of approval from her throat.

His ears stood firmly at attention as he did it again, and she could feel him slowly being coaxed out of his shell. She wanted his confidence to increase so that he would become bolder and more self-assured. She wanted him to take charge of her and ravish her...but that was one day. Right now, she enjoyed playing her role. By teaching him the ways to touch her and bring her pleasure, she would mold him into the perfect lover.

And she knew she would enjoy doing it.

He ventured further south as she continued to stroke his hardness, her touch becoming lighter and more teasing. She wanted to satisfy him without bringing him to an untimely completion.

She moaned louder when his lips brushed against her clavicle, wordlessly encouraging him to continue. She felt his hot breath against her skin as he moved to her left breast, his lips millimetres away from her skin but not touching her. She arched her back, making the very tip of her nipple graze against his lips...and she allowed a sound of need to bubble up.

"Mistress…" he whimpered, glancing back up at her for confirmation.

She merely arched her back again, pressing her breast to his lips once more...and this time, she felt him pull her nipple between them. He swirled his tongue around it, feeling the texture of her against it. The way her flesh hardened under his touch...the way her head rolled back on her shoulders...it made him feel like he was doing everything right. He could feel her fingers winding into his hair and pulling him closer, and he wrapped his hands around her back. Her nails felt good against his scalp. The way they scraped against it...it goaded him on until she stepped away from him, placing her hands on his shoulders and drawing them down to his hands.

She silently pulled him toward the edge of the bathing pool...her steps slow. Seductive. As she drew closer to the steps, the water level lowered until it dipped beneath her buttucks, and he felt himself swallowing hard. The sway of her hips drew him in with the promise of more. The way her body glistened in the fire's light...he wanted to drop to his knees and lick the water from her skin.

She climbed out, wordlessly looking over her shoulder and telling him to follow her with her eyes. He scrambled after her, and she grinned at his excitement. He was so eager. It was endearing. She watched him shiver as a breeze floated through the room, and she grabbed a towel from a shelf on the wall. He intended to do the same, but was surprised when she dropped to her knees and began toweling him off and drying his skin.

"M-Mistress, please...I can do that...you don't need to…"

"Yet, I wish to," she replied warmly. "You would deny me?" she questioned, raising a brow.

"I would deny you nothing," he admitted, a blush staining his cheeks.

"Good," she purred, moving the towel up to his thighs. The material was soft and plush as it moved against his skin, and he bit the inside of his bottom lip as it brushed against the length of his erection. She smirked at his reaction and moved the towel up to his abdomen before gracefully rising and drying his chest and shoulders. Her breasts brushed against his shoulder as she circled around to his back, squeezing the water from his hair.

His ears swiveled back as she tossed the towel to the side, capturing the rustle of heavy, wet fabric falling to the floor. She pressed her finger tips to his shoulders, slowly dragging them across his skin as she walked back around to his front.

"Have you ever been told how handsome you are, Inuyasha?"

"I…" he choked, his breath catching in his throat. He blushed, shaking his head and shyly looking back at her through the fringe of his bangs. He hadn't thought she found him attractive. Convenient, yes. But attractive? Him?

To _her?_

He would have laughed if he didn't think it would insult her.

"A pity," she purred, slowly and deliberately running her eyes down his body and lingering on his cock. "The women in your city must be blind fools. You were wasted on them," she mused as she pressed her body to his, wrapping her hand around his length again and making him sway forward as she gave him a tug. "Idiots that were too blind to see beauty when it's before them," she murmured, continuing to work her hand over him. "They would fight over you if they could see you now with my eyes."

"M-Mis-Mistress," he whimpered as her fingers rolled over the head of his cock, his head falling to her shoulder and his arms wrapping around her back. He let out a shuddering breath across her skin, a small white bead forming at his tip as she continued to work him. He felt hot...so hot...so sensitive...so ready to let go. His world was so foggy. He couldn't think. He just...just wanted to...to...

"Oh, my sweet...not yet. You mustn't take your pleasure yet. It's too soon. Come with me. Your first time will not be here…"

He moaned, staggering forward as he lost the support of her body. His mind was still so hazy as she took his hand and led him from the bath and down the corridor, turning this way and that until they reached her bedroom. The door soundlessly slid open as she guided him inside, pushing him to sit upon the center of her futon. He swallowed hard as she placed her hands on the soft, plush mattress and dropped down into a crouch. She crawled between his legs, her movements fluid and powerful. He felt like he was her prey...and it only further excited him.

Mistress placed her hands on his thighs, running them up his body to his abdomen. He quivered under her touch, his chest shaking as he took a steadying breath.

She was the most erotic creature he had ever laid eyes on...and she wanted _him_.

"This time," she murmured huskily, moving her hands back down to his thighs, "is for you. This is my gift to you, my sweet. You may take your pleasure from me however you desire."

H-however he desired?!

She smiled warmly at the bewilderment on his face.

"You don't know what you desire, do you?"

He blushed again, looking away from her. He had never truly allowed himself to have those thoughts before.

A sudden, wet lick along his thigh drew his attention back to the Goddess kneeling between his legs.

"Mistress?"

"Relax, sweet Inuyasha. We will discover what your body craves together. What it desires…" she leaned her head down again, pressing a kiss to his thigh before blowing on his wet skin. His hands fisted the sheet below as he tried taking a steadying breath, but it was useless. Her hands massaged his thighs as she locked her eyes with his, lowering her mouth over the tip of his cock and giving it a firm suck. His body convulsed as he let out an unintelligible sound.

"M-Mistress…"

She hummed her acknowledgement, and the vibrations caused him to snap his eyes shut and throw his head back in pleasure. Her tongue circled him and tasted him. Her hands teased his thighs and sack. Her mouth bobbed over him. He had never felt anything like it...had never dreamed such pleasures were possible.

He could feel the beginnings of something more. There was a tightening in his sack...a burning in his blood and belly...he was on fire. His hips violently thrust up against his will and he heard a strangled noise leave Mistress as she choked, clearly not expecting his body's reaction anymore than he had.

She pulled away from him and he sat up, apologies tumbling from his lips as he tried his best to beg her forgiveness. She merely cupped his cheek and dropped her forehead to his, inhaling deeply.

"It is a natural reaction, dear Inuyasha," she soothed. "But it's time for something more now. Rise up, my sweet," she encouraged, trading places with him on her futon. Her black, flowing hair moved and swirled around them as she laid upon her bed, her arms reaching out for him. She beckoned him into a warm embrace, and he heeded her call.

She stroked his back before reaching down between them as he moved over her, supporting his weight on arms placed on either side of her head. His silver hair fell around them, blocking out their surroundings. It was just them - her and him. His perfect, beautiful Goddess. He desperately wanted to kiss her, but the feeling of her hand moving his cock between her folds whisked away any thoughts of what her lips pressed to his might feel like.

She placed him at her opening and encouraged him to thrust into her, her legs wrapping around his waist.

"M-Mistress…" he choked out. Nothing should feel this good - it didn't have the right to. His whole body was singing at the feeling of her wet heat wrapped around him. He had never felt this good in his life, and he didn't think he ever would again...until he moved.

He knew he should be embarrassed by the sound that escaped his throat. It wasn't a manly sound or a dignified sound, but the look on Mistress's face was understanding. She didn't judge him as he thrust back in. He did it a few more times before he had to pause, pinching his eyes shut. His fingers dug into the soft feather bedding below her, and he felt a hand on his cheek.

He opened his eyes and looked down into the sweet, smiling face of Death.

"Take your pleasure, my sweet. Do not strain yourself for me. This time is for you," she reminded him, and he nodded with a groan as she wrapped her legs tighter around his narrow waist.

He resumed his movements, thrusting rapidly and shakily into her a few more times before a wave of ecstasy crashed into him. He called for her as his orgasm overtook him, sweeping him away in its tide. He collapsed onto her as his seed spilled into her core, trembles shaking his body as he found his way back to her. He rolled off of Mistress, a wide smile plastered to his face as he fought to catch his breath.

"Mistress...thank you," he murmured, turning his head to regard her with warm golden eyes. Her stormy grey ones crinkled around the edges with her smile as she stroked the side of his face.

"You enjoyed it?"

"It was...I...yes. Very much," he blushed, a shy and timid smile tugging his lips up.

"Good. Your work isn't over yet, Inuyasha," she reminded him, and his blush deepened. She had told him what to expect, and he nodded as he began to rise from the bed.

"What would you like me to do, Mistress?"

She guided him to kneel between her legs, placing his mouth at the apex of her thighs. She instructed him, telling him to use his tongue. Death tasted of honey and the sweetest plum wine. He wanted to live off of her...and the taste of his seed within her only made his demon purr happily in his ear.

She began her lessons as he continued to lap at her: lick her this way...suck her here...pay special attention to this nub here...roll your tongue over it just so, Inuyasha. Thrust your tongue into my opening - move it this way, Inuyasha. Nip my thighs lightly...not too hard, my sweet! Lightly! More scrape than bite. Be gentle. Tease me. Tempt me.

He felt her thighs tremble around his head as her back arched off of her futon before collapsing back down onto its softness again.

"Very good, Inuyasha," she panted, and he ran his tongue up her slit to lap at the juices still flowing from her opening. When he felt delicate, talented fingers rubbing his ear, he moved out from between her thighs and moved up to rest beside her.

She worked the sheet out from under them and pulled it over her body, and he suddenly felt apprehensive.

Did she truly want him to sleep in her bed with her?

"Are you not cold, Inuyasha?" she asked him, concern lacing her voice.

"I...yes…"

She merely raised a brow at him, and he quickly situated himself under the sheet. His breath caught in his throat as she tugged his body to press against her back. She held his arm captive under her breasts, his hand cupping one as she sighed in contentment.

If this was what Death was like, he would gladly fall into her arms again and again.

* * *

A/N:

Thanks as always for the amazing reviews, and thanks to Saucy for the awesome edits! I know it's been a few months since this one was updated, but I wanted to build up a bit of a buffer and get it into a regular rotation with Saucy.

Mission accomplished!

_**This…was the tamest smoot of the bunch.** _

_**It will get filthy. You've been warned.**_ Emphasis on filth, not cruelty though! He's a sex slave, but he's always a willing one. Kagome don't play like that. 

Also, FAN ART:

You can view fan art inspired by this chapter from [UnderwaterOphelia here](https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/80665483), and [MamaBearcat here](https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/80712720)! They knew what was coming, and this chapter has been floating around on tumblr here and there before today. (All the more reason to find me on tumblr. It's lemonlushff).

 **New fic coming your way in the near future** – a birthday present for our wonderful Mama Bear! (and this one IS finished – chapter one through epilogue – and set to air on Monday, July 27th!)

It's a story about loss, doing whatever you need to for your family, and learning to love again (and smoots…naturally).

_**Title: Picking Up the Pieces** _

**_Summary: Kagome and Inuyasha have both lost their spouses due to different calamities. As the parents of newborns, they now find themselves coming together to raise their children through sheer necessity, and learn to create a new family from the ashes of tragedy._ **


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from the Inuyasha universe, but I sure do love playing with them. The rest is mine.

* * *

Chapter 3

Inuyasha silently slid the door to Death's private sanctuary open and stepped inside. She had asked him to come with fruits and tea, and he hoped he didn't disappoint. He had selected an assortment just to be sure.

He had awoken in her bed that morning with Death draped over his chest, her head resting over his heart. Her hair was still, and her breathing was slow and even. Her fingers splayed listlessly across his shoulder and pectorals as she clung to him. Their legs were entwined, and he caught himself briefly recalling how those same legs felt wrapped around his waist the night before.

He had been too afraid to move - too scared to awaken his Mistress...but then her head rose. Her eyelashes fluttered, batting away sleep from her stormy eyes as a lazy smile spread across her full lips. Her hair lifted and swirled around them, curling in fluid spirals.

He swore he couldn't breathe.

How was it possible to be this beautiful, even as a Goddess?

"My sweet," she purred, her voice thick and heavy as she reached out to cup his face. "Have you been awake for long?"

"No," he replied, his own voice filled with gravel and far too rough for his own liking. She simply smiled, touching her forehead to his before pressing a kiss there.

"Good," she breathed, moving to place another between his brows then another at the tip of his nose. His heart was thundering in his chest and he tilted his face up, silently trying to encourage her to kiss his lips. He desperately wanted her to kiss his lips...however, she denied his request as a soft, breathy chuckle washed over his skin and she moved down to kiss his chin.

He tried to not let disappointment show on his face, but as she reached between them to massage his flaccid length to life, he quickly found himself not caring if she kissed his lips or not. Their second time together had lasted a bit longer than their first, but he was surprised when she had kept him on his back.

She sat upon his face, urging him to treat her as he had the night before...to listen to her body's wants and let the sounds he drew from her be a guide. When a river flowed from her into his mouth, he felt a certain pride wash over him. She had screamed _his_ name. She had begged _him_ to please her. Even if he wasn't particularly good at everything, he had still brought her to the height of pleasure. Her patience with him and willingness to teach him meant everything to Inuyasha, and he found himself eager to do it again.

When she had made to move off of him, his hands kept her in place, his eyes hot as he silently told her he wanted to do it again.

She loved his passion and fire, and if he wanted to taste her more, she wasn't about to deny him. She happily stayed where she was, allowing him to bring her more pleasure. She appreciated his eagerness and willingness and would never deny him more. It wasn't long before she found herself arching her back, calling out for him for a second time before slumping over him. She stayed there panting for a moment, her hair swirling lazily around them.

Once she had caught her breath, she snaked a hand behind her to grab his stiffness and give it a light pull. A mewl escaped his throat against his will as she teased him and toyed with him. She slid down his body and positioned him at her hot center, sinking down onto him.

He had done his best to last longer than the night before. He'd thought of people he hated...mundane tasks he used to do...but it wasn't enough. Her movements were too fluid, and her body was too tight, too warm, and too wet.

Light burst behind his eyes. His whole body tensed and stilled. His lungs strained for air.

She slowed her movements and carefully stood from his exhausted, limp form. He lazily looked back up at her, awe filling his gaze.

When he could bring himself to move, she had led him back to the bath, instructing him to bathe her before bathing himself. When she sat on the bench, legs apart so that he could wash her thighs, he did his best to ignore the sweet smell of their coupling. He wanted to taste her again, but he didn't dare. He didn't want to take when she hadn't offered...but it was hard to ignore! Her body called to him, and her taste was so addicting. The taste of her after they had lain together…

He almost whimpered at the thought.

When he had washed every inch of her body, she had rinsed off and entered the warm, pearl lined pool from the night before and encouraged him to hurry and bathe so he could join her. Mistress's hair stilled and calmed, falling limp around her shoulders as she dipped under the water before resurfacing to watch him bathe. He pushed his self-conscious feelings off to the side - it was silly to feel this way, given...everything. It was just strange knowing that she enjoyed, or seemed to enjoy, looking at him.

Once he had joined her in the pool, she wrapped his arms around her body so that they would pull her back flush against his chest. She then turned her head into his neck and pressed a kiss to his skin, making the corners of his lips rise. He pulled her that much closer.

Why was he so comfortable with Death? He should have been terrified, and yet...he found himself sighing in contentment and burying his nose into her hair to breathe in her sweet scent. Death was kind to him, and he enjoyed being with her.

"We should get out in a few minutes," she commented after some time, ending the comfortable silence that had fallen around them. "I have work that I need to do today, and I need to show you around my temple."

When she finally pulled away from him to dress, his breath caught in his throat. She was already so beautiful, but there was something about seeing her body shimmering with droplets of water that simply took his breath away.

He followed after her, almost stumbling up the steps as he raced to take the towel from her. She smiled at his eagerness, delighting in how much he wished to please her. He kneeled, toweling her off as she had him the day before. He began at her feet, moving up to her calves then her thighs. He moved his hands in slow, tender circles, brushing the soft fabric of the towel along her skin. His hands moved to the swell of her buttocks, and he found himself pressing a kiss to her smooth skin when he was done.

Her airy giggle filled the air, and his heart filled with a happiness he had never known. The fact that she not only wanted his touch, but welcomed it and took joy and pleasure in it...it was still so unfathomable to him. He pressed his lips to her other cheek before rising to his feet and gently running the towel over her back, moving her wet, limp hair out of the way. Light shown over her skin, and a barely discernible silvery white pattern shimmered in it beneath the water droplets.

His brow furrowed as he tilted his head to the side, trying to see it more clearly. It was so faint, he could hardly make it out. It looked like two spider lilies wrapped around each other with two butterflies - one perched on each head. The long stems ran the length of her spine, and the first head took up the entirety of her right shoulder blade. The second was slightly smaller and started just under her left blade.

It was an interesting design, and he absently wondered how she had come by it...but he thought better than to ask her about it. Instead, he finished drying her back before moving to her front, lovingly treating it as he had her other side. When he finished, she took the towel from him and squeezed the water from her hair before inconsequentially tossing it to the side.

"Your turn," she murmured before returning the favor, and he wanted to tell her to stop. She didn't need to keep doing this to him. He was perfectly capable of drying himself off...and yet, the last time he had objected to something, she had admonished him. That was the last thing he wanted her to do now. When they were both completely dry, she snapped her fingers, and he jumped in surprise when her body was instantly clothed.

She wore a collar of golden scales around her neck that branched down towards her bosom, and two large matching sashes crossed in front of her abdomen and around her hips. Together, the collar and sashes held the soft, white fabric of her top together enough to hide the tips of her breasts from view, but not enough to hide the edges of her cleavage from his gaze. A golden belt held her long, flowing skirt around her hips, and a red jewel shimmered in the morning light in its center. Much like the day before, she wore finger cuffs like long, golden claws...only this time, they were attached to her hands in scaled gloves that matched her sashes and collar. Atop her head sat a formidable, spiked crown, helping to complete the vision she made.

Death was... _beautiful._

"Mistress," he murmured, dropping to his knees and she smirked, almost as if she knew what he was going to say.

"I suppose you would feel more comfortable with some clothing as well, my sweet?" she mused, threading her fingers into his hair at the back of his head.

"I would," he eagerly confirmed. He was almost afraid that he would never wear clothing again. He didn't know how he felt about walking around her temple nude for the next six months. He already felt rather self-conscious of himself...and of the way her eyes followed him as he moved.

Even if she had allowed him to bed her twice now, the idea that Mistress desired him was so... _foriegn_. Being _desired_ was foriegn.

Inuyasha watched as Mistress raised her dominant hand, her fingers absently and slowly waving as she seemed to ponder how best to dress him. Her eyes were thoughtful...soft, even...and he found himself getting lost in those deep grey pools as her hair began to lift and swirl around her shoulders once more.

A sparkle entered Mistress's eyes as she seemed to come to a conclusion, and with the snap of her fingers, he found himself clothed for the first time in over a day - since he had been stripped of his humanity and left to die, attached to that column in the woods.

She had lined his forearms in intricate golden cuffs that were studded with red, glimmering gems. A large arm cuff also adorned his tricep with three large garnets set within. A scaled necklace rested upon his shoulders that matched the one Mistress wore, almost as if she were laying a silent claim over him. Nothing else graced his upper body, however. Still...it was better than before. Now, he at least wore a soft, red dhoti around his waist that shielded him from view.

"You look quite handsome, Inuyasha," she purred, moving her sharp fingertips around his scalp to gently massage it, and he felt a blush stain his cheeks.

How could she still find him handsome?

"Thank you, Mistress," he murmured, rising as she gestured for him to do so.

She had then led him around her temple, showing him things like where to cook his food, the entrance to her garden, and her private quarters where she performed her duties. She then left him, telling him to make himself more familiar with his new home while she busied herself with work.

Now, he stood before Death, tray in hand as he watched her gracefully kneel before a large pool of water. Images danced across it, but the angle from where he stood made it hard to discern what she was so avidly observing. She raised a brow when he closed the door behind him, waving him over with a golden hand.

He silently approached, waiting for her next command. Mistress clapped her hands together, ending the image and allowing the water to become translucent again, the white pearlescent bowl showing beneath it.

"Sit, Inuyasha," she instructed, and he obeyed and kneeled beside her. She looked at him expectantly, and he realized that she wished for him to pour the tea. He felt like a fool for not having done it sooner, and he rushed to grab the pot and sloppily fill the cup in his haste. Droplets of hot tea splashed out of the china and coated some of the fruit, and he tightly closed his eyes as shame and embarrassment welled up in his chest.

"I'm sorry," he immediately apologized, shakily placing the teapot back onto the tray and looking down into his lap. Mistress surprised him - she reached out to take his hand in hers.

"Do you fear me, Inuyasha?" she questioned, her tone kind and gentle.

"No!" he gasped, his eyes immediately snapping to hers. "Of course not, Mistress…" she had been so kind to him...given him so much...he didn't think he could ever fear her, even though he knew that she would one day take his life.

"Then why do you cower in my presence?" she pressed, and he swallowed a lump in his throat as he tried to figure out how to explain how he felt around her.

"I don't wish to disappoint you, Mistress," he finally began, somehow finding the words locked away in his throat. "You have given me so much...shown me so much kindness...permitted me to…to share your bed," he blushed harder. "I just don't want you to question why you saved me. I want to be worthy, but I…I'm not."

"You are worthy because I have deemed you so. Stop worrying about such silly things, Inuyasha. To question your worth is to question _my_ judgement. Do you question me, Inuyasha?"

"I would never dream of it," he smiled weakly, and she tilted his face up to look her in the eyes.

"Then stop questioning why you are here. You are here because I will it."

"But _why_? You could ask anyone to serve you. Why me, Mistress?"

"Because you intrigue me..." she smiled warmly, cupping his cheek before her eyes heated. Her gaze shifted away from his, raking over his body as she brought her hand down to follow the same path. Her touch scorched him...made his skin tremble as his breath caught in his throat. "...and because I find myself desiring you. It truly is a pity that your women never saw your beauty, Inuyasha. They must have had very simple minds, indeed," she purred as her hand landed in his lap. His breath caught in his throat as she cupped his flaccid cock in her hand through the fabric of his dhoti.

"Mistress?" he questioned, his eyes wide.

"I do so enjoy touching you, Inuyasha," she murmured, giving him another gentle squeeze. "But I must focus on other things now," she bemoaned.

If only she had more time to play with him. Their session that morning had sated her for a time, but now that he was before her once more...she found him very distracting. She wanted his face between her legs again.

Another time, unfortunately.

"Sit with me while I work, my sweet," she requested, turning back to the pool of water before her. She waved her arms over it in a large, wide sweeping motion as he looked on in curiosity. "The tea and fruits are for you to enjoy as I work," she continued as an image floated over the waters and her grey eyes shone silver.

"They aren't for you?" he questioned, eyeing the image. It moved faster than he could see, and she held up a finger as her brow furrowed in thought. After a moment, she came to a decision and leaned over the still water and blew on it. Her breath created ripples across the surface, and the image faded away before being replaced by something new.

"No, my sweet," she finally replied, turning to look at him. "They were for you." She watched his brow furrow in confusion, and understanding flashed before her eyes. His body might be godly, but he was a mere mortal. He didn't understand the things _her_ body needed...nor did he truly know her. "I do not need your food to sustain me, Inuyasha," she explained. "I enjoy it from time to time, but I do not need it as you do. I asked you to bring this so that you may sit by my side as I work. I merely wished to enjoy your company."

He had gone through all that work only for her to not want it? It felt like a dismissal of his attempts to please her, and he felt his ears lower at the thought.

"Oh, my sweet," she whispered, cupping his face again. "I will join you for a moment," she murmured, as if reading his mind. "I see you brought quite the selection," she mused, looking over the tray of exotic fruits.

"I didn't know what half of them were," he admitted, and her smile widened.

"Well...now you will learn," she decided, reaching out and grabbing a large, round, red fruit. "This is a pomegranate," she informed him. "Have you ever had one before?"

He simply shook his head as she dug her golden nails into the tough skin, breaking it apart. Red juice flowed down her hands and wrists in a river, and she placed the halves back onto the tray so that she could lap at the trails.

He found it utterly erotic.

The way her eyes closed...the way her tongue moved against her skin…

He had to glance away to try and dislodge the image from his mind.

"I haven't, Mistress," he swallowed, and her smile only widened.

He would come to experience all manners of new delights with her, wouldn't he? She reached inside the dripping fruit and plucked one of the garnet seeds from within, ripping it away from the fleshy white membrane encasing it.

"Open your mouth," she instructed, her voice thick and commanding.

Her lips parted slightly as he obeyed, allowing her to delicately place the seed between his lips. She removed her hand, continuing to watch him closely as he began to chew. His eyes widened as the tart juice of the seed exploded in his mouth.

"It's good, Mistress. Thank you," he grinded, his eyes wide.

"I'm glad you enjoy it," she smiled, loosening another seed and bringing it to his lips. "Every time I see a pomegranate...I cannot help but think of my brother...Hades…"

"You have a brother?"

"Mmmm…" she confirmed, popping out another seed and placing it on his tongue. "I have many cousins and siblings, and a twin…" she replied as he chewed the seed. "In name - not in blood. I am not the only Goddess of Death, my sweet, nor is Hades the only God. The world is too big for only one of us. Not even two will suffice."

He wanted to ask how many there were, but he refrained. He didn't want to interrupt whatever thought she was having, and he enjoyed the way _she_ was honoring him by feeding him. From her hand. She could tell him whatever she wished right now, and he would sit there silently listening to whatever words flowed from her beautiful lips.

"Hades is my older brother...and long ago, when the Earth was newer than it is now, he fell in love with a woman named Persephone...and she, him. His people have twisted their story into this horrible tale of abduction and coercion...but their love was true. And forbidden. She ran with him to the Underworld to be his queen, despite her own mother's objections.

Persephone wanted to be with my brother more than she wanted to feel the warmth of the sun on her skin...and she happily lived with him. She was drawn to the Underworld by the wailing of souls stuck on the other side of the Styx River. She guided them across and into Hades' kingdom.

He asked her to stay for a spell before returning back to the world above...his way of showing her his thanks since she was fascinated by it. He showed her around, and when it came time for her to leave...she did so with regret. A week passed before Hades appeared before her, spending time in her world. He learned her likes and dislikes and listened to stories of her childhood. When he left, she followed after him not even a few days later.

They were fascinated by each other and by their roles in the world...and it wasn't long before they fell in love."

She took a deep, steadying breath, closing her eyes for a moment as if she were collecting her thoughts. When she reopened them, a mask had slipped into place. It was subtle, but Inuyasha could see it as she plucked another seed from the fruit and placed it in his mouth. He began to chew it as she continued her story, and Inuyasha was completely entranced. He didn't know what it was, but she had a way of completely captivating him.

"She chose to stay with him...and her mother was angered by this. The next part...how she deprived the world of its crops...that is true. She was trying to convince her daughter to return, and when she wouldn't, Zeus sent Hermes to retrieve her...but, by then, they had wed.

Still, Persephone refused to let the people suffer. She surrendered to her mother's whims, but not before eating six pomegranate seeds," Mistress smiled, popping another into his mouth. "It tied her to the underworld, and she was able to spend six months with him and six months with her mother."

"She didn't want her daughter to be happy? With her husband?"

"She didn't think she _could_ be happy. Persephone is like...a treasured object to her mother. Nothing and no one was ever good enough for her. Not even Hades...God and overlord of the underworld. She was convinced that Hades had tricked her into loving him."

"Did he?"

Mistress shot him a chilling look, and he regretted asking his question the second it had left his lips. Inuyasha lowered his gaze in a subtle sign of submission. She was silent for a moment before he felt her hand on his cheek, encouraging him to look back at her once more. His golden eyes met her striking blue ones, and he absently noticed her hair lazily swirling around her head.

"No one thought that anyone could love death, Inuyasha. No one ever has..." she told him, her mask cracking ever so slightly. Why did that statement feel like it held something _more_ to it... "He did not trick her, however. He saw her as more than some minor God. He elevated her to become a Queen. They fell into each other's arms willingly and passionately. They...they love each other dearly. As no one ever thought possible," she finished in a whisper, placing another seed between Inuyasha's lips.

Did she think that _she_ couldn't be loved? Because she was the Goddess of Death? He didn't see how that was possible. Mistress was kind...kinder than anyone else he had ever known. She took care of him...eased his pain...accepted him into her...how could...she couldn't...he refused to believe that she felt it was impossible to be loved.

He opened his lips to say something, but Mistress beat him to it.

"I've spent enough time away from my duties now...you should go back to enjoying my temple, Inuyasha. I'll sit with you for dinner. Take your tray with you - I will not be partaking in anything now."

He bowed his head, gathering the tray and leaving her in peace as her story still swirled in his head.

Mistress couldn't really feel that way, could she?

How could a Goddess...one as beautiful and perfect as her...not feel like she was capable of being loved?

It just didn't make sense.

He was the filthy, tainted one...

Not her.

Mistress was worthy of... _everything_.

* * *

A/N:

Thank you as always for all the amazing support! You guys are awesome and ROCK! And of course, thank you to Saucy for all of the edits! Couldn't do it without you!

Next chapter should go up 9/9, but check out my tumblr for teasers and to learn how to read the next chapter early!

Until next time!

-LL


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from the Inuyasha universe, but I sure do love playing with them. The rest is mine.

* * *

Chapter 4

Inuyasha kneeled before Mistress, slowly cupping his hand as he poured a sweet, nutty smelling oil into his palm. She lifted her left leg, silently indicating that she wanted him to start there. He rubbed his hands together before running his hands up and down her calf, smoothing his hands over her skin. It glistened in the morning light, and he absently delighted in the feel of her skin under his hands.

He had been living with Mistress for over a month now, and he had never felt more at home. He served her however she asked, but he didn't find himself being used in any way. Even when she desired his body, he never felt forced into it. He always willingly gave her what she asked...because he found himself wanting and desiring it as well.

Mistress was the most beautiful and sexual being he had ever met.

She always craved more, and always took control of their unions together.

She had taught him things...things he had never before thought one could do to a woman. Her patience with him and her dedication to his education helped bolster his confidence slightly...but he also knew that when he was inside her, he was still leaving her unsatisfied. He was lasting longer than he once had, but he knew that she was slightly disappointed with that aspect of his performance.

Still...he was determined to improve himself - especially since she was so keen to work her way through the list of various positions that she had carved on the pillars in her bedroom. He hadn't noticed them at first, but as he prepared for bed one day, they had caught his attention as he walked past.

He paused and turned to really look at it, and after he processed what he was staring at, he felt his eyes grow as wide as saucers. There, carved into the stone, was a man taking a woman from behind while she was on her hands and knees. Another had her facing away from him as she sat atop him, his hands on her waist. He was unable to look at more before Mistress had crept up behind him and slipped her hand into his pants, pressing a kiss to his neck.

"Do you see something that interests you, Inuyasha?" she murmured against his skin, her hand wrapping around him and giving a gentle tug.

"I…"

He had lost his words, unable to articulate his thoughts. It hadn't mattered, though. She had led him to bed and began to show him that there was so much more to intimacy than he had ever imagined.

It wasn't just about the positions...though he did now enjoy quite a few different ones.

It was about a deeper connection. It was about trust and finding ways to bring your partner pleasure...it was all so fun and wonderful.

Inuyasha ran his hands over her feet, working the oil into each of her toes before inching his way up to her ankle and then smoothing his hands across her calves. She sighed in contentment as he began massaging her, her head rolling back onto her shoulders as he lavished her skin with oil and affection.

"You've become so good at this, Inuyasha," Mistress breathed, relaxing under his hands and spreading her legs further apart as his hands moved up to her thighs.

"Thank you, Mistress," he purred seductively, pausing to pour more oil into his palm. He rubbed his hands together again before resuming his work, loving the feel of her soft, creamy thighs in his hands.

A deep moan rippled out from her throat as he worked her skin harder, becoming completely boneless under his touch. He took the opportunity to give into a whim of his and gently placed a kiss on her inner thigh, his nose lightly brushing against her pubis as he did so.

"Are you trying to hint at something, my sweet?"

"Whatever do you mean, Mistress?" he smirked as his eyes danced mischievously, causing her to laugh throatily.

"You know what I mean, Inuyasha."

He smoothed his expression away, trying to look innocent as he began working on her other leg.

"Mistress, I am just tending to your needs…whatever they might be…"

She laughed again, and he watched her breasts lightly sway with the movement as she tucked her spiraling hair behind her ear.

"Does applying oil to me this morning bore you?"

"Serving you could never bore me...touching you…" he demonstrated, running his hands up her thigh. "Caressing your skin," he explained, gently running his thumbs in circles over oiled flesh. "Kissing you..." he breathed, leaning forward to press a kiss to her lower abdomen above her core. He felt her breath hitch in her throat, and he tried not to smirk. She was enjoying this...and he wanted her.

Inuyasha looked into her eyes, deliberately holding her gaze. He wanted her eyes on him. He was silently demanding her full and undivided attention.

"Tasting you."

She gasped as he parted her thighs further and dipped his head between her legs. He pressed a kiss to her lips, his eyes never leaving hers as he did it again. Inuyasha's tongue slipped out and dipped into her opening just as she had taught him, and she sighed in contentment as he began slowly moving it within her. He drank from her, savoring her flavor as he ran his tongue along her slit before refocusing his attention on the nub she had shown him that caused her so much pleasure.

Mistress's fingers wound their way into his hair, her nails scraping against his scalp and tugging at his roots to pull his face into her core. Her hips were undulating against his face as he continued to work her, a hand smoothing over the skin of her thigh.

"Inuyasha," she mewled, feeling her double over him as his fingers began rubbing her lips.

He moaned into her, acknowledging that he had heard her before pressing a knuckle into her opening. He swore that her body was made for him. She was so tight...so hot...so slick…

Mistress was... _perfect._ To him, she was perfect.

He uncurled his knuckle, sliding a finger into her as he began to work his hands in tandem with his lips and tongue. Her walls clenched around his fingers, and he couldn't help but think of how good that would feel around his cock. His blood was thrumming in his veins. Each pump of his heart made his body tingle, jolts of electricity running down his spine.

She tasted so good...how did she taste so good? She always did, though...he swore that she tasted of sweet plumb wine and honey. He'd never be convinced otherwise...and the sounds she made...

The whimpers...and mewls…and gasps...maybe he had died at the pillar that day in the woods. Maybe he had been tried and judged and viewed worthy of entering heaven. It was the only explanation. To be doing this...with someone like her…

Her fingers fisted his hair tighter and pushed him further into her heat, and he felt his male pride rise. She liked this. _He_ was doing this to _her_. _He_ was getting this reaction from her. He internally smirked to himself and decided it was time to pull out his ace in the hole. He tilted his head, drawing a fang over that throbbing nub while rubbing his tongue across it at the same time.

She screamed her ecstasy so loudly that his ears had to fold down so that she wouldn't deafen him as she exploded around his fingers. He continued to pump his hand into her, slowing as she came back to him.

"Inuyasha," she panted, the breathiness of her words sending waves of heat through his veins.

"Mistress," he purred, delighting in the fogginess in her eyes when they met his. He held them, making sure she was watching as he raised his arm and drew his tongue up his forearm, lapping at her juices. "I could live off of you, Mistress," he moaned, his voice rough and heady and filled with need as his cock throbbed between his legs.

Her moans and cries had awoken his body, and it was begging him...please...pleasure me...touch me…

He didn't need to, though. Mistress placed her hands on his shoulders and pushed him down to the stone floor of the bathing room before crawling up his body.

"You did well, my sweet," she complimented. "I should punish you for deviating from your task...but...I feel... _generous,"_ she purred thickly, her voice almost gravelly from screaming her pleasure.

"You do?" he encouraged, his breath hitching as her breasts scraped along his heated flesh, her hard nipples ghosting over his body.

"Very," she murmured, her tongue darting out to trace the inside tip of his ear. He had never known that his ears could be so sensitive. They had been a point of discrimination his whole life. He had almost cut them off once, in a fit of heartbroken rage...but his mother had stopped him before he could, stealing the blade from his hands.

Mistress, though...she loved them. She made him feel special and worshiped, and she always paid special attention to them. She scraped her teeth along the edge, taking it's neglected twin between her fingers and massaging it between them.

She had learned that his ears could both soothe and pleasure him all at the same time, almost suspending him in a state of constant, torturous need...and she loved using that to her advantage.

"Inuyasha," she whispered into it, running her hand down the side of his face. "Whatever has got into you today?"

"Nothing, Mistress...but if you'll allow it, I'd like to get into you…"

Laughter wracked her whole body, and she laid her forehead in the crook of his neck. He couldn't help but smile, wrapping his arms around her trembling body. When she pulled away to look him in the eyes, he saw the corners of hers crinkling.

She was so beautiful.

She could never _not_ be beautiful.

"Well then," she teased, reaching down to take his cock firmly in her hands and giving him a teasing tug. "Perhaps I should let you…"

"Please, Mistress," he encouraged, her smile widening as she pressed a kiss to the tip of his nose. He tilted his face up, trying to encourage her to kiss his lips...but, as usual...she ignored his request.

"Not today, my sweet."

He swore that was becoming her mantra.

Not today, my sweet. One day, my sweet. Be patient, my sweet.

For how much longer? When was one day? When would she finally allow him to kiss her?

He tried to not let dark thoughts enter his mind, but it was always a difficult battle. He just didn't understand it. He had been here for a month now. Did he have to earn it? Did he have to do something for her to finally have…

He sighed as she kissed the side of his neck, working her way down his body.

He wanted...was it...after all they had shared together, was it too much to ask for a kiss? He knew she had already given so much of herself. He knew she had given him things others never had...never _would_ have...but…

Was it so wrong to desire a kiss from her?

To...to want a first kiss?

He felt so weak to long for something so small…

He felt her pressing kisses down the center of his chest, her hands palming his pectorals as she drew closer and closer to his stiffness. He tried to focus on that feeling instead...on the feeling of her kissing his body...licking his body...touching him in ways he had never believed he would be…

"Inuyasha," she breathed against his wet skin, slick with sweat and her saliva.

"Mistress," he called back, melting into the floor and surrendering himself to her whims.

She moved to further down his body, taking his sack into her mouth and rolling her tongue around him. She was so good...she could play his body like an instrument and he didn't know how she knew how to make him sing...but...god, she could make him _sing._

His head snapped back, roughly smacking into the hard tile below as she moved to take his cock into her mouth.

"M-Mistr-ress," he stuttered, his hands flying out to his sides as he tried to find something to hold onto as she began bobbing above him. She hummed, telling him that she heard him while also knowing that it would only bring him more pleasure. He loved it when she did this.

It was like a special treat.

She gave him a particularly firm suck, making his toes curl as she circled the head of his cock with her tongue.

He all but screamed and pushed himself deep into her throat, and she violently jerked back from him with a choke.

"Inuyasha-"

"-I'm sorry," he winced, sitting up and taking her into his arms and rubbing her back. "I didn't...are you ok?"

She looked in his eyes and tried to not get angry. He wasn't doing this on purpose. She knew this. He was a gentle, caring man...a man who struggled to control his baser urges when in the throws of passion. His transgression wasn't that egregious. She knew this...she just...needed to remind herself that he was only a man and new to the joys of pleasure. It would take him some time, still. He had already improved so much as a lover...this would come in time, too.

"Lay back, my sweet," she sighed, encouraging him to return to his former position by pushing on his shoulders.

He shot her a confused look but didn't question it...not that he would have when she climbed over him, sinking down onto his stiff cock. They both moaned at the feel of him sliding into her, stretching her in the most delicious of ways. They both loved it when he was inside her, each thinking that this was how it was meant to be. This...this was perfection.

His head rolled back as she began moving over him, moaning as she clenched around him.

"Mistress," he gasped as she moved faster, her hair a swirling maelstrom around her head and shoulders. Her breasts bounced with her movements, capturing his attention as he bit his lip. She grabbed his claw tipped hands and placed them over her pert flesh to help keep them in place as she brought them closer to pleasure.

"Touch me, Inuyasha," she begged, encouraging him to brush his fingers across her nipples. He happily obliged, rolling his head forward so he could watch the scene before him.

His hands on her breasts...his cock disappearing into her heat…

That was all he needed to send him over the edge, his orgasm shooting through him before she had her fill. Again.

"M-Mistress," he panted, his eyes drifting closed. "Did...did you…"

"No, my sweet," she smiled weakly, and she watched him cringe as his ears lowered in shame.

"Please, Mistress," he requested, cupping her cheek. She then traded places with him, allowing him to place his mouth at the junction of her thighs as he always did and pleasure her until she was screaming his name.

When she came down from her high, she noticed that Inuyasha had moved them into her soaking pool and he was cradling her to his chest as he leaned against the back wall.

Inuyasha had come a long way since coming to stay with her. The sex was...well...it was still lacking when he was inside her, although he had taken his training very seriously. He had already improved so much...and his mouth...he had been a perfect student when it came to his mouth. He was perhaps one of the best she had ever had - she would be content to simply lie on her back all day and allow him to please her with his fingers and his mouth.

A shudder of delight ran through her body, and she was tempted to ask him to do just that...but she had responsibilities to attend to later. Perhaps tonight...she couldn't help but smile mischievously at the thought. She knew he would agree to it, too.

That's just who Inuyasha was. He was eager to please her. He wanted to make her happy...but...it wasn't because she was a Goddess...or, at least, he made her feel like it wasn't because she was a Goddess. He wanted to do it because he had a little crush on her. She could see it in his admiring amber eyes...hear it in his sweet words...feel it in his tender caresses…

Inuyasha saw her as more than a Goddess. He saw her as a woman, and she loved that about him. She wasn't _Death_ to him. She was...her. Kagome. It was a feeling she treasured and something she wanted to reward.

She had been toying with the idea of making him... _more_ than just her servant for some time now. He only had five months left with her, and she didn't wish to waste that time. It might be too soon...sooner than any of the other Gods or Goddesses had ever done this...but she didn't care. She never had. She lived by her own rules, and if she wanted him to become one of the Sanctified...a shiver of excitement ran up her spine at the thought.

Inuyasha...as her Sanctified...bearing _her_ mark...telling the world and the Gods that he was _hers..._

"Are you happy, Inuyasha?" she asked, watching beads of water drip down his arms as he readjusted his hold on her, bringing her closer to his body.

"Of course, Mistress," he reassured, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "You make me very happy."

She turned around in his arms, gazing up into his honeyed eyes. He was happy, wasn't he? It made her feel that much more confident in proposing her idea to him. She enjoyed Inuyasha's company so much...he was perhaps one of her favorite consorts she'd had over the years.

Still...she didn't want to force him into agreeing to anything he might not be comfortable with. This had to be his decision.

"Inuyasha...would you like to become one of the _Sanctified_?"

She watched his thick, dark eyebrows pull together in confusion, and she reached up to lightly brush his bangs with her fingertips. His skin and hair had become much softer to touch since he had come here...rubbing himself with oils had become one of his daily responsibilities.

"Sanctified?" he pressed, perplexed. He swallowed thickly, his heart pounding in his throat. What did "Sanctified" mean?

"It means that you would be mine in every sense of the word."

"Yours?" he repeated, trying hard to understand what she meant. Didn't he already belong to her? He was her servant...he did as she asked, when she asked, how she asked. He obeyed her every whim and desire.

"Mine. It will tell the other Gods that you belong to me."

"Belong to you," he replied, his eyebrows raising. Belong to her how? Would she own him? Like...a possession? A toy?

She felt his body stiffen and he turned his head away from her, his jaw twitching. This was not the response she was expecting.

"What does that mean?" he finally asked, his voice low and cautious as he finally worked up the nerve to voice his concerns. "Will you own me? Like I'm a toy?"

Mistress felt her breath catch in her throat at his tone and turned around in his arms, taking his face between her hands.

"No, my sweet," she reassured emphatically. "Not a toy! Inuyasha...you could never...oh, my sweet...a Sanctified is so much more…"

His amber eyes met her cerulean ones, and she saw the curiosity in them.

"What...what is a Sanctified?" he asked nervously, licking his lips. The action drew her attention, and she felt an ache between her thighs at the memory of what his mouth could do. Oh yes...asking him was the right decision.

"A Sanctified is more than just a servant, my sweet...to become a Sanctified, it means...it's a symbol that you are treasured by a God," she explained. "It means that you're...mine. To take care of and look after and...please. And that you do the same for me. It's a sacred bond.

I anticipate that we will be visited by other Gods during your time with me. There is a ritual I'd like to perform...it will make you a Sanctified. It will tell the other Gods, before they even lay eyes on you, that you are mine. An affront to you would be an affront to me."

She watched his eyes dart across her face as he seemed to roll her words around in his head.

"This is...for my protection?" he pressed, trying to wrap his head around what she was saying. Did she feel he needed protection? Was he in danger somehow?

"And it's a show of...appreciation and devotion," she soothed, and he felt an unbidden grin tug at the corners of his lips.

"Really?"

"Really," she nodded, running her fingers through the hair at the back of his head. "It's a great honor, my sweet...but...I will not pressure you to accept my offer," she soothed, gently scraping his scalp with her nails. He felt his eyes drift shut as a sigh escaped his lips.

"I would like that very much, Mistress."

* * *

Inuyasha loosened the fabric ties of his dhoti and allowed the fabric to pool around his feet as Death kneeled before him, mixing a greenish brown paste together in a bowl. The warm sunlight shone down on his naked skin as he stepped out of his pants and began to remove the many bangles and cuffs that she liked to adorn him with.

She had wanted to do this in her garden - it was a simple, peaceful place with a small waterfall that fed into a koi pond filled with water lilies. He enjoyed the tranquility of her garden and often spent quite a bit of his free time here, watching the fish and napping in the trees or in the sun.

Inuyasha folded the rich, soft, red fabric of his dhoti as Mistress continued to mix her paste together while sitting on a stone bench. She wore a simple, emerald, silk dress with thin gold straps made of leather that wrapped around her neck in a giant 'X'. The soft silk flowed out from a thicker golden band wrapped across her breasts and back. A large 'V' had been cut into the front, exposing the inner sides of her breasts - the point of the cut out almost reaching her navel. Her back was completely exposed, save for the leather - the silk joining together to just barely cover the delicate swell of her buttocks.

On her right hand, she wore a finger cuff with a tube on one end - which, she had explained, she would use to draw the pattern on his skin. Her left had been completely encrusted in small golden pebbles and emerald jewels, creating the body of a bird in mid-flight. Her fingers were tipped in long claws, covered in more golden stones that sparkled in the sunlight...yet her palms were free of any adornments.

"My sweet…" Mistress paused, placing her bowl to the side as he reached up to remove his necklace. She twisted her left hand in the air and a scrap of silk appeared in her un-encrusted palm. "Please put your hair up," she encouraged, handing it to him. "I'd like to keep it out of the way."

"Of course, Mistress," he agreed, reaching out to take the fabric from her outstretched hand. His clawed fingertips gently scraped against her skin, and a shiver ran up her spine in response. An unexpected response...and one she chose to ignore.

She found herself unable to keep her eyes off of him as he stretched up to pull his hair atop his head. The way his muscles moved beneath his skin...his people were fools. She would always think that. His beauty was undeniable...and his heart…

She smiled softly, picking up the bowl beside her to begin mixing the paste once more as she asked him to lay down. She watched him wordlessly obey her, crossing his arms under his head as he lay on his back. He bent his knee, lazily watching her continue to prepare through hooded eyes while she allowed her eyes to roam his naked body.

She had the strongest urge to cup his face and kiss him...but she knew she couldn't, just as she knew she needed to reign in her desires. She was making him a Sanctified...that...that was as much as she could give him.

She closed her eyes and sighed, refocusing on the task at hand. She needed to mark him. Death slowly spooned the mixture into her finger cuff and then eased his leg down so she could step over him. He watched her through heavy lidded eyes as she dropped to her knees, settling her weight over his groin. Inuyasha closed his eyes and sighed, a contented smile splayed across his lips as she placed the bowl to the side and leaned forward to gently place a kiss to his abdomen.

"Are you ready, my sweet?" she asked, tilting her face up just enough so that she could look him in the eyes. Her lips brushed against his stomach with every word, making his skin tremble.

Inuyasha reached down and cupped the side of her face, his fingers gently rubbing her jaw as he whispered, "More than, Mistress."

She smirked and felt a nervousness she hadn't realized was weighing her heart down dissipate as she crawled further up his body, placing kisses along his skin as she went. Then, when she reached his pectorals, she moved with a fluidity he had never seen before except with her. Her shoulders pushed her bosom out towards him as she sat up, and he found himself yearning to touch them above the soft flowing silk of her dress. He could see the shape of her nipples through the green fabric, and the desire to pinch them...feel the weight of them in his palms...was almost overwhelming.

"I'll need you to get comfortable, Inuyasha. You can't move until the paste has dried on your body...and even then, not for some time after. Not until I have rubbed you with oil after and cleaned your body. This is very important, my sweet," she warned him, and he felt his face blanch at the seriousness of her tone and her eyes.

He arched his back, raising her to her knees as he did so, so he could stretch one more time. The movement elicited a delicate giggle from her, and a warm, relaxed grin spread across his face as he settled down onto his back once more. He reached up to cup her face, and Mistress's eyes softened when she looked back into his.

"I won't move," he promised, resting his arms at his sides. "I swear."

That was all she needed.

She placed her right index finger halfway between his pectoral muscles and drew it down in a circle. Then another. Then another. Each movement caused paste to slowly ooze from the finger cuff, creating a visible design as she went...but he wasn't interested in watching her fingers work across his flesh.

He was interested in watching her face. Her brows were drawn together in deep concentration, her eyes sharp and focused on her work. He found it endearing...just as he found it endearing that she bit the corner of her lip as she worked. He didn't think she even knew she was doing it. He took a deep breath when he felt her index finger raise from his torso, and she shot him a peeved look.

"I'm sorry, Mistress," he smiled sheepishly, and her face relaxed.

"It's alright, my sweet," she replied wanly, returning to her work.

A comfortable silence fell over them as she continued drawing her finger across him in a pattern he couldn't quite yet discern, simply because he didn't care to watch her hands. She was so beautiful...he had always thought this. From the first moment he had laid eyes on her, he had wanted to worship her...and he had found that his feelings had never diminished.

He still found her to be the most beautiful woman that he had ever been.

"Why do you look at me like that, my sweet?" Mistress pressed, and Inuyasha noticed for the first time that she had stopped her work.

"Like what?" he blushed, feigning ignorance. He was embarrassed to have been caught having those thoughts about her.

"Inuyasha," she warned gently, and he winced.

"I was just...thinking about how beautiful you are. Even for a Goddess...you must be the most beautiful amongst them," he confessed, delighting in the way her cheeks were suddenly tinged in a warm pink.

"Those are dangerous words, my sweet," she teased, resuming her work. "I am hardly the most beautiful Goddess, and there are some who would take offense to that."

"I don't see how that's possible," he whispered, and she paused to look up into his eyes.

"I have a twin sister. Vanity is…" Inuyasha watched Kagome trail off as she tried to think of what she wanted to tell him before finally saying. "My sister is quite narcissistic. Beauty is everything to her."

"Not to you?"

"I enjoy it on myself and on others...but no. It is not everything to me. It's a wonder we both came from the same oyster," she mused, and Inuyasha felt his eyebrows rise in surprise.

"Oyster?"

"Mmmm…" she replied as she began her work on him once more. "My sister and I were born from an oyster. Our mother is the Goddess of the Sun - our father, the Moon. They were deeply in love, and they had many children before my sister and I. On the blackest of nights, our father went swimming in the blackest of oceans. He felt himself being drawn towards something in the bottom of the sea, and he swam and swam and swam until he reached the bottom."

Her eyes were soft, filled with the memories of her father and mother telling her the story of her birth a thousand times before. The words were practiced, as were the intonations. She knew where her parents paused, where they excitedly continued...and Inuyasha watched her recite it with such adoration in his eyes…

Was this the first time she had ever told another this story? That didn't feel right, and yet...she couldn't recall another time she had ever spoken these words. Certainly never to any of her old consorts…

Inuyasha was...special, though. She couldn't explain the why of it all...she could just feel it in her gut. He was special.

"He said he fought the pull of the currents as he made his way to the bottom - fought off the beasts of the sea, one by one, drawn by this inexplicable pull. When at last he reached the bottom, after hours of swimming, he found the most beautiful oyster. He said it faintly glowed, even in the deepest bowels of the ocean. So...feeling its importance, he plucked it from the sea and swam back to the shore.

As night faded into day, he met my mother on the sandy shores. The surf washed over their feet as together they opened the oyster. Inside were two perfect pearls. One white...and the other, pink. They knew in that instant that they were the seeds from which my sister and I would be born, and they instilled us with a bit of their power by blowing over the pearls. Their breath caressed the surface of those pearls, and thus...my sister was born from the pink pearl, and I from the white."

When she looked up from Inuyasha's chest, she saw a look of awe and wonder in his eyes. She found herself quickly shifting her focus back to his chest, continuing her work and adding to the design.

"So you were born from a pearl…it feels fitting," he mused.

"Oh?" she smirked, arching a perfectly shaped brow as she moved down his body and encouraged him to part his legs so she could sit between them.

"You're so beautiful and precious...it's only fitting that your origin is a pearl," he explained. "They are plentiful in the sea, and yet...to find a truly perfect one...it's a truly difficult feat. You're as precious and as beautiful as the perfect pearl you were born of, Mistress."

She ducked her head, focusing on her work and hiding her blush from Inuyasha.

"You're rather silver-tongued today," she commented as she added more paste to her finger cuff before beginning to work on his thighs.

"Am I?"

"Mmmm…"

"I hadn't thought speaking the truth was considered being silver-tongued."

She only chuckled, shaking her head.

"Enough, my sweet. You don't need to try and seduce me - when we are through here, I have every intention of taking you," she dismissively reasoned as she worked her fingers over the dip of his thigh, creating swirls along the dip of the V pointing toward his flaccid cock.

Silence overcame them for a few moments, and she began her work on his other thigh.

"Do you think that's why I compliment you?"

She looked back up at him and noticed that his face had become emotionless. His eyes were closed, and his fingers were loose at his sides.

"I have found over the years that yes - that is _precisely_ why men compliment me," she shrugged, her finger dancing over his thigh as she worked.

"Oh, Mistress…" he breathed, and she glanced back up at him...the inflections of his voice...something was off. He looked heartbroken. "I'm so sorry, Mistress...you shouldn't have been treated that way. You deserved so much more...I...Mistress, I enjoy telling you how beautiful you are not because I seek the pleasures of your body, but because I enjoy the smile on your face when you hear them." Movement out of the corner of her eye drew her attention to his hand, and she saw that he had turned it upwards, silently signaling that he wished to hold her hand.

She hesitated for a moment before appeasing him. The fleshy pad of his thumb came to stroke the jewel encrusted knuckles of her left hand, and she felt a warmth spread through her body at that simple touch.

"Inuyasha…

"You're beautiful, Mistress. To me, you're more than a Goddess of Death. You're just... _my_ Goddess, and I'd hate it if you believed that I only want one thing from you. I never pursued those desires before you," he blushed. "I never would have pursued them if you hadn't approached me. I'm not worthy to be in your presence...let alone claim your body as I have...I don't want you to think that I think so little of you."

"I don't," she promised, focusing on her work so she wouldn't have to look him in the eye. The warmth and compassion she saw within those burning amber suns...it was almost unbearable to face. So she didn't. Instead, she allowed a quiet calm to overcome them, and her fingers moved down his thigh once more. She threw herself into her work until, at last, she was finished...and she sat up with a pleased, proud grin.

Inuyasha watched her tug off her finger cuff and toss it to the side and into the bowl with the remaining paste.

"Finished, Mistress?"

"Quite," she confirmed, moving further down between his legs to press a kiss to his inner thigh that was free of the earthy smelling paste.

"So now I wait for it to dry," he breathed, his breath hitching as she placed another kiss to his other thigh. He tried to look down his body to see what she was up to, but he couldn't see her face. All he could make out was her hair swirling lazily in the air around her shoulders and his thighs.

"That's right, my sweet," she purred, inching her lips a little higher up his body and toward his still flaccid cock. Her lips lightly brushed against his skin with her every word, and he closed his eyes to try and control his rapidly heating blood.

Wouldn't this render everything he had just told her meaningless? He felt her move her lips over the head of his cock and he threw his head back, his fingers grasping the grass and dirt as her tongue circled him.

"Mistress, I thought I wasn't supposed to move..." he gasped, and he felt her chuckle around him, the vibrations making his eyes pinch shut.

"You'd best not move, then...lest you ruin all my hard work."

He could feel his blood rushing to his cock - the hot air formed from each puff of her words sent his fingers further into the earth beside his hips.

Mistress's lips descended upon him again, and his blood became liquid fire as it pumped through his veins. Mistress didn't notice how deeply she was affecting him and continued her ministrations, bringing his cock to life. She pulled away from him, a loud pop leaving her mouth as she examined her hard work with a keen eye.

Her right hand wrapped around the base of his saliva slickened shaft, and slowly, teasingly, she began to stroke him.

"Mistress," he gasped, his head rolling to the side as the blunt nails of her right hand grazed his heated flesh.

"Inuyasha," she called back in response, her eyes dancing in amusement and satisfaction as she watched him dig his claws further into the ground beside him. Tendrils of his silver hair clung to his face and neck from sweat. His body was flushed - his chest rapidly moving as he tried to catch his breath from her treatment of his sensitive flesh.

He was a vision of pleasure...and a pleasure to behold.

She glanced back down at his cock and ran her tongue up its length before swirling it around his head, a small white bead forming at his slit. So - he was _really_ enjoying this, was he? She found herself internally reveling in the sight, and leaned down to lick his tip and tasting his salty, bitter essence. His head rolled back as she swirled her tongue around him, and she absently noticed that his knuckles had gone white. His body was trembling, yet he obeyed - keeping himself as still as he could.

Normally, he would have thrust into her mouth by now. She could see him working on his restraint, and she felt proud of him...and also wanted to test his resolve.

She pulled his throbbing cock back into her mouth with a firm suck and he cried out, his muscles tensing and trembling beneath the surface of his skin as he fought to keep still. His head began to thrash harder as she worked him harder. She bobbed over his length and teased it with her tongue until he was choking out garbled mewls of need and pleasure.

"M-Miss-tr-AH!" he cried as her fingers found his tightening sack, gently rolling the balls within around. She loved pleasing him and teasing him. She loved hearing him cry out for her...and loved that his desire to become a Sanctified and not ruin her hard work was keeping his hips in place.

This was proving to be quite a beneficial training exercise in restraint, wasn't it? Yet...she could feel his release closing in on him. His testicles were a dead giveaway, and she increased her efforts to bring him pleasure and worked him over in her mouth until he couldn't help it. He thrust up once into her mouth, spilling his seed deep into the back of her throat before collapsing into a boneless mess on the grass.

His release had been more than she was expecting, and she struggled to swallow it all - some traces spilled out of her mouth to dribble down her chin. She saw his eyes lazily peel open and when she had his attention, she made sure to run her fingers up her chin to catch every drop before sucking them clean.

His keening whimper sent a shudder of delight through her body as he watched her.

"Mistress," he panted, and she leaned down to press a kiss to his softening cock.

"You did well, my sweet," she praised. "You're learning control...did you enjoy it when I swallowed your release?" she purred, his reddening cheeks drawing a thick, sultry chuckle from her throat. "Behave yourself and I'll be able to do it again - if you choke me, I can't."

"Yes, Mistress," he breathed, and she crawled out from between his legs and came to lie beside the length of his body. She watched him turn to look into her eyes, and he closed his as he tilted his head towards hers.

She smiled gently, understanding what he wanted as she pressed her forehead to his.

A comfortable silence fell over them and she swore he had fallen asleep, basking in the warmth of the sun and the afterglow of his orgasm.

"I wish I could kiss you."

It surprised her. His words were so soft, so quiet...she almost thought she had imagined it.

She knew what he had said, though...and she felt her heart clench. It was so sweetly innocent...it was endearing. But she knew she couldn't give in.

"One day, my sweet," she reassured him, trying not to think about what would happen when one day would come.

"One day," he agreed, rolling his head away from hers to look at the sky. He distracted her by pointing out shapes in the clouds. She could hear the rough thickness in his voice and the determination to keep his emotions in check as he pointed out the cloud that looked like a rabbit.

When she heard his stomach rumble, she pulled away from him and knelt by his side, asking him to open his mouth. She placed small dumplings inside, feeding him and running her fingers through his bangs...and she chose to believe that his mind had moved on.

She couldn't keep pushing him off, though. She knew this. He asked her every day, both silently and verbally, for this one simple token of affection. She hated that she had to deny him...but she couldn't tell him the truth. Not yet. She didn't want things to change between them, and she knew that when she did...everything would be different.

It always was.

"It's dry now," she decided, running her fingertips down his body and toward his hips. The paste didn't smear.

"Can I move?"

In theory, he could...but she liked him naked and on his back, completely defenseless...and susceptible to her every whim.

"Not yet," she lied, picking up the oil she had brought with her and pouring it onto her palms. She massaged it over his skin, whispering words in a tongue that he could never hope to understand. The paste began breaking, covering his skin in an oily mud that she looked forward to cleaning off later...only so that she could dirty it again with sweat from riding him.

A shiver of delight ran up her spine at that thought as she worked down toward his thighs and as she moved between his legs, she saw that her touch had excited him.

It would be such a waste to ignore something so delicious…

She watched his eyes darken as she lifted his hand, using his claws to rip through the fabric of her dress and expose her naked body to his heated eyes. Their joining was quick, and she rode him fast and hard, crying for him as he helped her move her hips above his. After he reached his release, she sat upon his face and bucked into it until her spine snapped and she went stiff as her own release ran through her. She fell forward onto her hands, and she felt Inuyasha gently kiss her opening, his tongue occasionally running up and down her slit as he cleaned her.

When she could finally stand, he picked her up despite her protests and carried her to her bathing room where they lathered their bodies with soaps before rinsing off and dipping in the pool.

"Did it work?" he pressed as he looked down at his torso, almost as if he were too nervous to know the truth.

His torso was covered in a gold, shimmering pattern. It would only glow brighter in the coming days as his aura changed, taking on the small, tiny piece of hers she had given him.

"It worked, my sweet. You're mine now, Inuyasha. To protect and adore."

"I like the sound of that," he breathed, wrapping his arms around her waist and nuzzling his head into her hair.

"Me too."

* * *

A/N: Thanks as always to Saucy for the edits...and thanks to everyone else for the amazing reviews!


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